New Galaxy S9 Leak Reveals Major Disappointment

Samsung’s Galaxy S9 is going to be the first major handset revealed in 2018, and its launch will set the path for discussions about mobile technology for the next twelve months. The latest leaked images suggest that the South Korean company is going for an iterative approach, rather than any massive shifts in technology.

While it is not definitive, more evidence is building up that Samsung will not be making any revolutionary steps forward with the Galaxy S9 hardware, not least in terms of fingerprint usage for security. Although a number of patents have been published around the work that detail the methods Samsung could be using to read fingerprints from a touch on the main display, these are clearly not ready for Samsung’s flagship handset and its anchor for a year of smartphone sales.

If Samsung’s under-screen fingerprint sensor is going to show up in 2018, I would expect the South Korean company to be targeting the Galaxy Note 9 - the enterprise-focused tablet has a history of carrying the new biometric systems before they appear on the consumer S handsets.

That’s going to be a disappointment for many that were looking forward to a solution that would rival Apple’s switch to facial recognition. It’s more of the same in the Galaxy S9.

DJ Koh, president of mobile communications business at Samsung, introduces the new Samsung Galaxy S8 Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

The Galaxy S9 is shaping up to be a curious beast of a smartphone. Almost all of the current features and specifications on the Galaxy S8 are expected to be bumped up. The Snapdragon 845 alongside a new 10nm Exynos chip will lie at its heart, there could be more internal storage, sharper imaging, and everything gets a little bump up. That makes for a handset that is iteratively ‘better’ than this year’s S8 and S8 Plus, but it’s going to be a harder sell to the public without any gee-whizz technology.

Will that be enough for Samsung to maintain its lead over the chasing Android pack? Will it look moribund compared to the obvious enhancement of FaceID on the iPhone X? Can Samsung’s marketing power keep the S9 at the forefront of smartphone technology?

I am known for my strong views on mobile technology, online media, and the effect this has on and communication will have on the public conscious and existing businesses.I've been following this space for over ten years, working with a number of publishers, publications an...